27 June 2014

Farewell to Dryland

Back in February, Anita Witt announced the impending closure of her often visited and frequently photographed sim, Dryland, but then a reprieve of sorts arrived: the sim was featured in the Destination Guide, and, as more visitors flocked in, Anita endeavored to keep the place open a little while longer. But now its time really has come, with a closure scheduled for July 5 or 6. I first wrote about the beautifully desolate Dryland back in December 2012 here, and have a number of times since then.

Anita is a photographer as well sim designer (see here for her flickr stream), and the sim has long housed her gallery. She has, additionally, always sponsored exhibitions of works by other Second Life artists, ranging from a large installation of builds by William Weaver (on which you can still reflect via an ongoing display of archival images) to shows by a wide number of photographers. The sim is also home to pallina60 Loon's delightful Woops...a baby (pictured immediately below) a playful sculptural installation on circus themes.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank Anita for twice featuring my own works — first during the opening of Dryland gallery spaces in a group exhibition with Melusina Parkin, Marlen Slazar and William Weaver, and more recently with a one-person show, Lost Second Life, which opened last November and will continue through the end of the sim's run until it, too, joins the ranks of lost but fondly remembered locations.